Fresh off of the teams first
victory in eight games, the Stingers took on division rival Indianapolis. The game was
marred in penalties. 36 penalties between both clubs to be exact. The first penalty of the
game came at 2:43 when Stingers Mike Peylk and Racers defenseman Bill Prentice dropped
their gloves and began exchanging punches. Racers Bob Whitlock was called for hooking
moments after and Stingers Bernie MacNeil was called for tripping at 5:32. Ron Serafini
was called for hooking at 8:22 and Stingers Rick Dudley was penalized with a 10 minutes
misconduct after arguing ungentlemanly with referees. As a result of the penalties between
Serafini and Dudley, the Racers Bob Sicinski scored the first goal of the game during the
power play. When the Stingers were back at even strength, the Racers went on to score
another goal, making it 2-0. The Stingers John Hughes and Ron Plumb were sent to the
penalty box after a high sticking and tripping call at 11:20. Cincinnati's disadvantage
led to another Racers goal in the period by Sicinski. Sicinski took a perfect pass from
teammate John Whitlock and beat rookie Stingers goal tender John Kiely.
The second period began almost the same
as the first with both teams racking up more penalties. John Hughes bloodied the nose of
Racers defenseman Kim Clackson. Hughes went on to draw seven minutes worth of penalties
while Clackson took five. The Stingers scored their first goal of the game during an
Indianapolis power play. Dennis Sobchuk hustled and scrapped fabulously in the role of
penalty killer. The centers' puck handling was superb also. Sobby slid one under Racers
goal tender Leif Holmquist legs at 6:17 for a rare short handed goal. However, the Racers
Brian McDonald answered before both teams were at even strength at 7:11. It would be
McDonalds first goal of the season. In on the assist was former Cincinnati Sword Randy
Wyrozub. At 16:45 in the period, Stingers Mike Pelyk jabbed the butt end of his stick
against a downed Racer player, sending him to the penalty box and giving the Racers the
advantage. Ted Scharf scored the fifth Racers goal of the game with the assist by Pat
Stapleton. It would be Stapletons fourth of the game thus far.
Before the closing of the second period
more mayhem broke out between the two Midwest clubs. John Hughes was sent to the penalty
box at 18:25. While Rick Dudley picked up his second major misconduct of the game at 19:23
after scrapping with Racers Clarkson. Stingers Dave Inkpen was in on the action and joined
Hughes and Dudley in the penalty box after a ridiculous third man in call. Two other
Racers were also sent to their penalty box for their part in the chaos.
The Stingers began the third period one
man down. The Racers took advantage of it yet again with a 40 foot shot into the Stingers
net. The shot came from left wing Bob Whitlock, only 53 seconds into the period. Pat
Stapleton was yet again in on the assist. The Racers went on to suffer a hadnful of
penalties, but with the Stingers leading scorer Claude Larose out due to an eye injury,
Cincinnati was unable to take advantage. With only 4 minutes remaining in the period, more
fights broke out between the two clubs. Cincinnati's Pierre Guite and John Hughes were
excluded from the game along with Clackson and Dubois of the Racers. When all was said and
done, the Stingers were down by one man and the Racers Ted Scharf scored on the Racers
sixth power play of the game. Pat Stapleton was again in on the assist. It would be his
sixth of the game, which was a league record.
Head coach Terry Slater went on the
record and criticized referee Bill Friday for making bad calls during the game. In Bill
Fridays defense, it was his fifth game in six days.
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